NAIROBI, June 17 (Reuters) – Kenya has barred delegates from Taiwan from attending an international conference on oceans in the east African country under pressure from China, Taiwan’s government said.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and opposes any treatment of the island as a sovereign state. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
Visas issued to Taiwanese scientists were revoked at the last minute, the Ocean Affairs Council (OAC), a Taiwan government agency, said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday, adding that some participants had their passports and phones confiscated for more than 20 hours.
Kenya’s foreign ministry officials and the event organisers did not respond to requests for comment.
“They (Kenyan authorities) insisted on unilaterally distorting their so-called interpretation of “One China,” expanding it without limit to the point of blocking our people from attending the meeting,” Taiwan’s foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, told reporters in Taipei on Wednesday.
“This is absolutely wrong, and we strongly protest it.”
The OAC statement also condemned what it called “barbaric obstruction” that had prevented its scientists from taking part in the “Our Ocean Conference, 2026” in the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
China’s foreign ministry told Reuters the “One China principle” was the basic norm of international relations.
“China highly appraises Kenya for resolutely upholding the One China principle,” it said in a statement issued separately.
The Our Ocean Conference brings together governments, scientists and civil society groups to discuss marine protection and sustainable ocean use.
(Reporting by Vincent Mumo Nzilani and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Elias Biryabarema and Gareth Jones)
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